Mold in inks - prevention

[mke]

"Two" questions interesting for storage:

1) Is mold aerobic or anaerobic?

Is mold in ink destroyed when removing the air and exchanging it for nitrogen or argon?

 

2) Is there any factual information about the anti-mold additives in different ink makers' inks available?

[SamCapote]

Mold is aerobic, but it requires very very little traces of oxygen to survive.  Yeast however can grow in aerobic or anaerobic conditions.

 

There is lots of factual information about fungicides, biocides, etc.  I like to use Phenol which is available from Natural Pigments.

 

Dow Chemical and other major chemical manufacturers produce various biocides for many purposes.  You would need to spend time looking them up.  Most commercial biocides are only available to corporations.  You have to be careful as to what you add to FP ink as a concern for the chemical components, and effect on your pens.

[mke]

Thank you.

I heard that the special smell of Sailor inks is that of a phenol compound. Forgot the name, however.

Additives can have a huge influence on the formulation of an ink.

 

Did you ever see an influence of using phenol on the ink properties?

Btw., how much do you use?

 

 

[SamCapote]

17 hours ago, mke said:

Thank you.

I heard that the special smell of Sailor inks is that of a phenol compound. Forgot the name, however.

Additives can have a huge influence on the formulation of an ink.

 

Did you ever see an influence of using phenol on the ink properties?

Btw., how much do you use?

 

 

No I never saw a negative aspect of using phenol (carbolic acid), and many many large ink makers were using it until it fell into disfavor as a result of its use in the Nazi gas chambers. 
 

interestingly, it is still in the formulation of Chloraseptic throat spray. 
 

I have a big thread from several years ago where I did a major science experiment and testing of the effective phenol concentration in eradicating a fungal infection I had in a lot of De Atramentis inks. 
 

You can likely find it searching for my name and Biocide.  I’m on my phone, or I would link it for you. 

[SamCapote]

Oh here I found it. Pull up a chair as there is a bit of reading to do. 
 

if you want a shortcut to the post in that thread which gives the actual phenol dose you can click this. 
 

[Paganini]

It's a long read, but well worth it. Because of that thread I have a big bottle of Natural Pigments phenol in my pen corner, and have saved two bottles of slimy ink with it. Thanks again, @SamCapote!

[Olya]

Sailor have denied the presence of phenol in their inks

The only problem with Natural Pigments is that they are in the US and can't ship their phenol everywhere.

It can't enter the EU, don't know about other corners of the world, e.g. Japan.

 

To me, Sailor and Pilot inks have a bit of an almondy smell.

I remember the smell of old Parker Quink and no ink compares or comes remotely close.

 

[Arkanabar]

The thing I advise one to remember is that plants are surrounded and covered over with symbiotic microorganisms, and keeping your ink away from them is advisable.

[bugsydog55]

I also have the Natural Pigments Phenol and it is currently saving several bottles of Private Reserve ink purchased years ago.  Sadly, I wasn't in time to save a few others as they turned into organic chemistry experiments.  I have several Monte Verde inks that may need some of this but I'm almost reluctant to open the bottles.  For a general dosage, I added one drop for every 10 ml or so.  May not be correct but it has not changed any properties of the ink and only made a minimal difference in smell.

[mke]

Thanks Olya.

 

"Sailor inks do not contain phenol and toxic compounds."  Now, how do they kill the fungi?

Anyway, it will be something from that list: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fungicides

However, the compounds which I had in mind are not in there.

 

I guess, we will never know if not a knowledgeable person spill the beans.

 

 

[SamCapote]

Each ink maker has their own proprietary ingredients, so you will not likely ever know what is being used, but that Dowacil I mentioned in my thread is a likely candidate. 
 

Regarding the phenol, maybe someone in the US can mail you a bottle. 

[mke]

@SamCapote

> Regarding the phenol, maybe someone in the US can mail you a bottle.

Thanks for offer but I am a chemist and have access to such stuff.